When the St. Louis County Department of Health reported on Dec. 8 that it was tracking a surge in whooping cough cases in the county, 185 cases had been reported for the year.  Cases were reported in 11 school districts, including three in Mehlville, according to district officials.

According to new statistics obtained from department on Dec. 27, there have now been 228 cases of whooping cough reported in 2010 in St. Louis County.

While the number of whooping cough cases has actually been reduced by more than 100 since 2009's report, authorities are concerned that so many have been reported in such a short timeframe—more than two thirds of the reported cases occurred within the last two months.

There may be several reasons for this outbreak. First, the whooping cough vaccine that most people receive as children eventually becomes ineffective.

"Your childhood vaccine wanes around 7 years of age," said Darcy Koch, director of Infection Prevention & Control at St. Anthony's Medical Center. "Many teens and adults have not taken their booster shot, so they are at risk of getting pertussis (whooping cough)." 

Since whooping cough causes milder symptoms and is less serious in older kids and adults, they often don't realize they've even contracted it.

"The problem is, they can spread it to infants, which is often the case, and can be very serious," Koch said. "Infants are not considered 'immune' until about six months of age and that's only after completing a series of three doses."

Unfortunately, whooping cough can become very serious and even fatal for infants and anyone with a compromised immune system.  Koch said symptoms usually start out just like a regular cold, lasting a week or two.

"The difference is, just as you expect to start getting better, you start to get worse; coughing spells, vomiting after coughing, apnea," she said. "This can last for three to six weeks in duration and is just miserable."

Another reason some healthcare professionals believe that whooping cough is becoming more of an issue is that while immunizations are required by law for students attending public schools in Missouri, parents are now allowed to claim a religious or medical exemption to avoid having to get kids immunized. While the law states that unimmunized children may be excluded from school activities in cases of outbreaks, it's not a foolproof system, and infected students may spread the disease before they realize they have it.

"There are steps we can all follow to reduce the chances of getting pertussis," said Department of Health Director Dr. Delores J. Gunn in a press release.

Gunn said that people who have cold-like symptoms that include coughing should stay home and avoid others, especially expectant moms, infants and young children. She also advised to keep age-appropriate vaccines up to date, and to cover mouths and noses with a tissue when coughing and sneezing. Hands should be washed thoroughly and often.

"I think it's so important for the community to realize that this is a preventable condition," Koch said.